READER SUBMITTED: Russian Vocal Ensemble Of St. Petersburg To Perform At Benefit Concert

Patricia Sivo Cole, St. Luke's ChurchGlastonbury

St. Luke's Church, 915 Main St., South Glastonbury, is proud to present Lyra, the Russian Vocal Ensemble of St. Petersburg, in a benefit concert on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors plus a donation for the local food bank.

Lyra is a community of professional musicians, most of whom are students or post-graduates of Saint-Petersburg Conservatoire, working in different choirs of Saint-Petersburg. The choir community Lyra includes about 25 people. The following will be performing during this tour: Sergey Tupitsyn, tenor; Anna Makarenko, soprano; Olga Turkina, mezzo-soprano and Alexander Kudriashov, bass-baritone.

Lyra's goal is to explore and popularize Russian choir music. Through their performances, they strive to introduce the enormous musical heritage of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as traditions of Russian folk music to all people who are interested in Russia, its history and culture. Their creative interests are quite diverse. They will present a wide range of examples of Russian sacred music, starting from ancient songs of the Orthodox Church to works of little-known, but remarkable composers of the 18th to 20th centuries, as well as famous masters - D. Bortnjansky, P. Tchaikovsky, P. Tchesnokov, A. Gretchaninov, S. Rakhmaninov, I. Stravinsky and others. They perform different folk songs of lyric, dancing and ritual nature in the arrangements of great choir music masters. They also make their own arrangements of folk songs. Secular songs of Russian classics, such as S. Taneev, P. Tchaikovsky, S Rakhmaninov and others represent another side of their creative activity. Their repertoire also includes songs, romances and arias from operas by Russian as well as foreign composers.

For more information about Lyra or to hear samples of their music, visit their website at www.lyra-online.org/en/homeen.html.